Iraqi workers standing up for their rights
Unite supports the ITUC and TUC in the
campaign led by the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW) for
fair labour laws that are in line with ILO.
Seven years after the fall of Saddam, Iraqi
workers are long due their fundamental rights at work.
Iraqi workers have recently launched a
campaign to finally give them their fundamental rights at work, and
free and independent trade unions. To build on this momentum,
international support is needed to press the new government to put
in place a fair and just labour law.
Nearly seven years have passed since the fall
of the Saddam’s regime, yet many of its laws continue to apply,
making it impossible for Iraqi trade unions to organise and bargain
on behalf of their members. Workers in the public sector can’t join
unions, the Government has frozen trade union assets, and key parts
of Government have attempted to take over trade unions. These laws
are undermining the immense contribution democratic and independent
trade unions can make to Iraq’s fledgling democracy.
While several versions of a new labour code
have been drafted, political opposition and a gridlocked Parliament
has seen them only gather dust.
In response workers and unions from across the
country – from Basra to Iraqi Kurdistan – have come together to
demand the government put in place a fair and just labour law. In
the face of often tremendous personal risk, the campaign is also a
pioneering effort in bridging religious, political, ethnic and
geographic divides.
Since its launch in November last year the
campaign has achieved significant early success. Some 85 members of
Parliament have signed the campaign appeal, along with the then
President of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, the Oil Minister and many
community organisations, businesses and other political leaders.
The key parliamentary drafting committee has consulted with the
campaign’s coordinating group, the National Labour Campaign
Committee NLCC, and MPs are petitioning for the legislation to be
debated in Parliament.
But in an alarming and recent reminder as to
why fair and just labour laws are needed, a government committee
entrusted with overseeing trade union elections has attempted to
replace the legitimate leadership of the Iraqi Teacher’s Union
(ITU) with its own stooges. This is in clear violation of national
court rulings, many parts of government, the Iraqi constitution and
the ILO Convention on Freedom of Association.
With a new government currently being formed,
the Iraqi trade unions want to raise the profile of the campaign,
to make it a top legislative priority – and that’s where
international solidarity is critical. As key campaigner Hashmeya
Muhsin from the Electricity Workers Union in Basra recently said in
an interview
with the International Trade Union Confederation: “international
solidarity matters in such a campaign”. We need it to,
“…pressure the Iraqi government to legislate a new, fair and just
labour law”. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has
formally endorsed the campaign.
To show your support, sign the International
Call for a Fair and Just Labour Law.
